Tim Benz: Bad time for Pirates to have a massive step up in competition

It’s been a while since we’ve really checked in on the Pirates. The NFL Draft and the Penguins playoff push has kept us pretty busy.

That stuff and, well, the abject inability to be competitive and the organizational disinterest in trying. Those things come into play as well.

But, hey, the Pirates are the Major League Baseball team in town, and they have the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers coming in for a visit. So, let’s take a quick glance at how things went in their most recent series in Cinc…

Oh. Oh my. No. Perhaps some things are not meant to be revisited.

The Pirates ended up losing two of three games to the hapless Cincinnati Reds. One defeat by a score of 7-3 on Sunday. The other was the first game of a doubleheader Saturday that ended with the Reds on top 9-2.

The Pirates won the other game of the series in the doubleheader 8-5.

“We didn’t play well for two games,” manager Derek Shelton said after Sunday’s loss. “We did some things that were uncharacteristic. Especially today. And that cost us the game.”

Nothing was more uncharacteristic than making the Reds look like a functional Major League Baseball team. Even with the two victories, the Reds are still only 5-23, the worst record in MLB.

Consider some of those moments and factoids from the Pirates’ trip to Cincy.

• When the Reds plated seven runs in the eighth inning of the first game Saturday, it was a higher run total in that one inning than they had posted in any single game this year.

• In the top of that inning, the score was still 2-2. The Pirates loaded the bases with no one out. The next three hitters, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Daniel Vogelbach and Michael Chavis, all struck out.

• Matters were made worse in the bottom of the eighth when infielder Josh VanMeter was forced to catch because starting catcher Roberto Perez was injured on the bases during the Pirates “rally” in the top of the frame. That was two innings after backup catcher Andrew Knapp got ejected from the bench for yapping at the umpires.

Pitcher Wil Crowe was so flustered having to throw to a position player behind the dish that he walked two batters, threw a wild pitch and hit a guy. Then he allowed a two-run double to ignite the seven-run explosion for the Reds.

Beau Sulser came on and threw gas on the fire by yielding a walk, making an error and giving up two doubles.

• Then, on Sunday, the Pirates were victimized by old friend Colin Moran who homered twice. And one of them was a grand slam.

A GRAND SLAM AND A REDS LEAD! pic.twitter.com/cO37OBHVJ5

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) May 8, 2022

One home run today wasn't enough for Colin Moran. pic.twitter.com/Kbi1Sq2vLd

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) May 8, 2022

“We just didn’t execute pitches to Colin in two of his hot spots,” Shelton said.

Prior to Sunday, I’m not sure if one could honestly say Moran had any hot spots. He entered the game hitting .184 and hadn’t homered yet on the year.

Now the Pirates — losers of eight games in their last 11 tries — are going from playing the worst team in baseball to one of the best. The Dodgers come to PNC Park for a three-game series starting Monday. They are 19-7, a .731 winning percentage, the best in MLB so far this season. Their 7-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs Sunday was their sixth in a row.

The Dodgers have allowed only 60 runs. The New York Yankees (75 runs allowed) are the only other team in baseball who have yielded fewer than 80.

Maybe I would’ve been better served checking in on the Pittsburgh Maulers in the USFL.

Wait. Nope. I just did. That’s … not pretty either.